Tuesday, June 1. 2010

Iran has barred private schools from teaching music, saying it clashes with the establishment's Islamic values, following a push to enforce moral standards that may lead to a national dress code for university students.

"The use of musical instruments is against the principles of our value system," Ali Bagherzadeh, head of the private- schools office in the Education Ministry, said in a phone interview from Tehran today. Iran's 16,000 private schools have 1.1 million students, the Islamic Republic News Agency said.

Iran has set aside $1.5 billion to promote "moral conduct," including enforcement of its dress code for women, "to solve the cultural and social ills" in society, Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said on May 10. His comments followed the introduction of a code of conduct at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences that bans loud laughter, nail polish, high heels and immodest clothing for women and men.